Carl August Hagberg (7 July 1810 – 9 January 1864), was a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
and translator. He was a member of the
Swedish Academy
The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III, is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish lang ...
, occupying a seat from 1851 until his death. He was the son of
Carl Peter Hagberg
Carl Peter Hagberg (22 November 1778 – 15 September 1841) was a Swedish minister and orator who served in the Swedish Academy.
Hagberg became master of philosophy in 1803. The same year he was ordained as a minister and subsequently serve ...
.
Hagberg is most famous for being the first person to produce a Swedish translation of the ''
Complete Works of Shakespeare
''Complete Works of William Shakespeare'' is the standard name given to any volume containing all the plays and poems of William Shakespeare. Some editions include several works that were not completely of Shakespeare's authorship (collaborativ ...
'', the twelve volumes of his translation was issued between 1847 and 1851. Several of his translations were, however, based on the work of
Johan Henrik Thomander
Johan Henrik Thomander (16 June 1798 – 9 July 1865) was a Swedish professor, bishop, translator and author. He received his doctorate in theology in 1836 and was elected to the eighteenth chair of the Swedish Academy in 1856.
After his father's ...
, who had produced a collected edition of ''
Antony and Cleopatra
''Antony and Cleopatra'' (First Folio title: ''The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in around ...
'', ''
As You Like It
''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...
'', ''
The Merry Wives of Windsor
''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...
'', ''
Richard II
Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...
'' and ''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
'' in 1825.
![Grave of Carl august hagberg lund sweden](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Grave_of_Carl_august_hagberg_lund_sweden.jpg)
Hagberg was a student at
Uppsala University
Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...
, and became a professor of
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
there in 1833. Upon his father's advice, he spent 1835 and 1836 travelling in Germany and France. During this time he met notable writers from both countries, including:
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
,
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (; 27 January 1775 – 20 August 1854), later (after 1812) von Schelling, was a German philosopher. Standard histories of philosophy make him the midpoint in the development of German idealism, situating him be ...
and
Ludwig Tieck
Johann Ludwig Tieck (; ; 31 May 177328 April 1853) was a German poet, fiction writer, translator, and critic. He was one of the founding fathers of the Romantic movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Early life
Tieck was born in Be ...
. Upon his return to Sweden, Hagberg became a strong advocate of English and French literature – at the time Swedish universities were dominated by German influences. In 1837 he wrote ''Om den nya franska vitterheten'', an essay surveying contemporary French literature.
Hagberg was a professor of
aesthetics
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
and
modern language
A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such a ...
s at
Lund University
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion [Nordic languages
The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...]
at the same university. He was one of the most famous public speakers of his day. In 1853 he was asked to make the public address at the unveiling of the statue of
Esaias Tegnér
Esaias Tegnér (; – ) was a Swedish writer, professor of the Greek language, and bishop. He was during the 19th century regarded as the father of modern poetry in Sweden, mainly through the national romantic epic ''Frithjof's Saga''. He has be ...
at
Lund Cathedral
Lund Cathedral ( sv, Lunds domkyrka) is a cathedral of the Lutheran Church of Sweden in Lund, Scania, Sweden. It is the seat of the Bishop of Lund and the main church of the Diocese of Lund. It was built as the Catholic cathedral of the archiepi ...
. From 1862 to 1863 he was the
inspektor
Inspektor or inspehtori, Swedish and Finnish for inspector, is the largely honorary chairman of student nations in Lund and Uppsala universities in Sweden and University of Helsinki in Finland. The inspektor has a supervisory role in their nat ...
of
Småland Nation, Lund
Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden.
Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized f ...
. He was succeeded by
Theodor Wisén
Theodor Wisén (31 March 1835 – 15 February 1892) was a Swedish philologist of Scandinavian languages.
Biography
Wisén was born in the parish of Vissefjärda in Kalmar County. He studied the classics, especially Greek, before turning to Scand ...
as the chair of Scandinavian languages at Lund University.
References
account of Hagberg's meetings with HugoHagberg's translation of Shakespeare at Project Runeberg
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagberg, Carl August
1810 births
1864 deaths
Linguists from Sweden
Swedish translators
English–Swedish translators
Members of the Swedish Academy
Uppsala University alumni
Academic staff of Uppsala University
Academic staff of Lund University
Shakespearean scholars
Translators of William Shakespeare
19th-century translators